Do you think you can get rich in Peds??

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poshdoctor

poshdoctor

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Now Im not going into Medicine for the money,

im really interested in General Clinical Pediatrics, but is it really worth it?? I mean I wanna gross around $200,000 (I have a 4.0 GPA....I've worked my butt off lol) and after all the debt of medical school and the work of a residency program I think that I deserve that almost all doctors deserve that salary.

But can I make that kind of Salary as a Pediatrician??

What do you think??
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poshdoctor said:
Now Im not going into Medicine for the money,

im really interested in General Clinical Pediatrics, but is it really worth it?? I mean I wanna gross around $200,000 (I have a 4.0 GPA....I've worked my butt off lol) and after all the debt of medical school and the work of a residency program I think that I deserve that almost all doctors deserve that salary.

But can I make that kind of Salary as a Pediatrician??

What do you think??
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Your post sounds kind of contradictory to me. You say you aren't going into medicine for the money, but then you say that you believe you should make x amount of money because of your grades.

6) How much money do pediatricians make?

The American Medical Association reports an average income for pediatricians at $135,400 a year, but that was from 1993. Medical Economics magazine reports a salary range for pediatricians from less than $60,000 up to $400,000 a year, with doctors that saw more patients and worked longer hours generally making more money, while those who work part time make less.

According to Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, a recruitment firm, starting salaries for full-time pediatricians range from a low of $100,000 to a high of $160,000, with an average starting salary of $130,000.
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That was taken from http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/pediatriccareers/a/pedi_interview_2.htm. Best article I could find.

Honestly, go in Peds if that's what you want, but keep in mind you're, what, pre-med? Don't get dead set on a specialty just yet. You'll see a bunch in medical school during your rotations. Do what specialty you want when you finally decide and do the match, but don't just do it because of the money. No matter what you say, that's what your post sounds like to me, IMO.
 
If you live in a nice area with few thieves, I mean uninsured patients, potentially. Peds isn't very procedural. Concierge peds might work.
 
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FutureCTDoc said:
If you live in a nice area with few thieves, I mean uninsured patients, potentially.
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🙄 Keep your opinions about the uninsured to the other thread, thanks. I'm currently uninsured, and it really pisses me off to see the crap you've said.
 
poshdoctor said:
Now Im not going into Medicine for the money,

im really interested in General Clinical Pediatrics, but is it really worth it?? I mean I wanna gross around $200,000 (I have a 4.0 GPA....I've worked my butt off lol) and after all the debt of medical school and the work of a residency program I think that I deserve that almost all doctors deserve that salary.

But can I make that kind of Salary as a Pediatrician??

What do you think??
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You can probably make 200K as a pediatrician, but you would have to work much more than a 40 hour work week (possibly 60+). Either way, a 200K salary is hardly rich, either, especially when you consider debt and the time-value of money lost through 8 years of medical training. It's comfortable living, where you will be able to support your family, put your kids through college, pay your mortgage/bills, and maybe put away a little on the side. If you're interested in being rich, stay away from primary care medicine and opt for a more lucrative specialty.

also, you don't need to justify to anyone your reasons for picking medicine. Money plays a factor for everyone... for sure. But if you are set on a 200K+ salary, general peds is your worst possible bet.
 
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As someone that really, really wants to do peds and will be leaving a 100k+ job (assuming I get into medical school), I can assure you that you will NOT make money in general peds. It's a field to go into for the love of kids, and the interest in pediatric disease and longer term care. It's not a field to got into for the money. You'll make 150k if you are lucky, but likely even less than now in the future (and the the peds folks aren't raking it in now).


poshdoctor said:
Now Im not going into Medicine for the money,

im really interested in General Clinical Pediatrics, but is it really worth it?? I mean I wanna gross around $200,000 (I have a 4.0 GPA....I've worked my butt off lol) and after all the debt of medical school and the work of a residency program I think that I deserve that almost all doctors deserve that salary.

But can I make that kind of Salary as a Pediatrician??

What do you think??
Click to expand...
 
Neurocentric said:
🙄 Keep your opinions about the uninsured to the other thread, thanks. I'm currently uninsured, and it really pisses me off to see the crap you've said.
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I'm sorry I forgot along with healthcare becoming a new right, so was the one to not be offended, sorry.
 
I was surprised to see some statistic somewhere that general peds was actually making slightly more than family practice physicians. Peds may not make huge amounts of money, but at least you can get some loan repayment tax breaks to offset some of the debt burden. Also, if you aren't a complete idiot with your money and blow it on beamers, benzes, and bentleys, I think you can live a comfortable life in medicine and retire comfortably as well.
 
You will have a roof over your head and your fridge and cabinets are guaranteed to be filled with food and drink every day. You will be rich. 😀
 
How do you know you'll still want peds at the end? Everyone "knows" they want ER or Psych and they invariably change their minds. Your ability to do well in peds is better determined by your business accumen then anything else. If you have a good, low cost model you will succeed. You will make more in private practice than in academic and if you're good more in solo than in group, unless you can really cut overhead. You will likely need to hire NPs and PAs to bring in more income.
 
FutureCTDoc said:
I'm sorry I forgot along with healthcare becoming a new right, so was the one to not be offended, sorry.
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Anyone who does not believe health care is a "right" should not be going into medicine.

And yes, you should keep your right wing blather in the "right wing blather" thread where it belongs.
 
slowbutsteady said:
Anyone who does not believe health care is a "right" should not be going into medicine.

And yes, you should keep your right wing blather in the "right wing blather" thread where it belongs.
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🙄 Why don't we all keep our political blather out of this thead:idea:.

poshdoctor said:
But can I make that kind of Salary as a Pediatrician??
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Sure, although 200k looks like it's on the higher end of pediatrician income. As for being "rich" you probably won't become what I consider rich solely from being a pediatrician.
 
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If you want to gross more then 200k, then you might want to consider a fellowship. However I wouldn't say its impossible to make 200k+ if you're a good pediatrician. However pediatrics is one of those fields you go into because you love it and not because you seek any gains other then seeing children smile.
 
200 is probably a stretch for general peds. specializing within peds is more likely to get you there. salary, of course, depends on where you are, what patients you see, how many patients you see, etc, but my impression is it's tough to clear 170 or so for peds without doing something special.

of course, if you're a premed then you are 8+ years away from becoming a general pediatritian, and inflation might have things more towards 200 by then 😉.
 
To put it simply you're going to have to choose between becoming a pediatrician or making 200k. They don't go very well together. Or, as others have said before, specialize.
 
werd said:
200 is probably a stretch for general peds. specializing within peds is more likely to get you there. salary, of course, depends on where you are, what patients you see, how many patients you see, etc, but my impression is it's tough to clear 170 or so for peds without doing something special.

of course, if you're a premed then you are 8+ years away from becoming a general pediatritian, and inflation might have things more towards 200 by then 😉.
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I don't think this us universally true in peds due to the fact that many specialists only work in academic settings, I think Peds pulm/rheum/heme/onc all make about the same or sometimes even less than those doing non-academic general peds.

There has been a huge shortage of some types of peds specialists because many folks can't justify 3 more years of fellowship for essentially no change in salary
 
slowbutsteady said:
Anyone who does not believe health care is a "right" should not be going into medicine.

And yes, you should keep your right wing blather in the "right wing blather" thread where it belongs.
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And what gives you the right to tell other people what to do?
 
poshdoctor said:
after all the debt of medical school and the work of a residency program I think that I deserve that almost all doctors deserve that salary.
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Ah, if only life were so simple.

Anyways, you probably won't make that much money in pediatrics. Sorry. Neonatology might get you in that range though, especially if you star in a reality TV show (although you might need some kind of "hook" like being really really ridiculously good looking, or being a little person).
 
Neonatalogy ftw.

surftheiop said:
I don't think this us universally true in peds due to the fact that many specialists only work in academic settings, I think Peds pulm/rheum/heme/onc all make about the same or sometimes even less than those doing non-academic general peds.

There has been a huge shortage of some types of peds specialists because many folks can't justify 3 more years of fellowship for essentially no change in salary
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slowbutsteady said:
Anyone who does not believe health care is a "right" should not be going into medicine.
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No. Just no.

There are tons of reasons to go into medicine without believing that. If what you mean is only very altruistic people should go into medicine, we disagree... but you're statement is still wrong.

I don't think healthcare is a right. My main interest is working with populations that are unlikely to be able to pay (or to pay much, medicaid and all that). If you don't want someone with that sort of interest going into medicine because they don't think it's a right, you're not particularly a good person, and/or not too bright.

People can make sacrifices to help others because it is a good thing to do without thinking that those other people have a right for sacrifices to be made.
 
I'm always unsure what people mean when they say, "Healthcare is NOT a right." Do they mean that people who can't pay should just be left out to die, or do they mean that they actually should get care, but be forced to pay (I don't know how you can be forced to pay something you just don't have)?
 
:hijacked:

You guys argue in a different thread.

In other news, your salary is going to depend a lot on where you work and how many patients you see. Seriously, though - you don't even know if you'll like Peds until you get there and see what it's all about. Go into medicine to be a doctor....there is absolutely no way you know for sure what you like yet. And then, even if you like something doesn't mean you'll be good at it. I'm not saying you won't be good at Peds, salary just isn't something you need to worry about at this point.

And, to reference the political nonsense, who know how much medicine will change before you're out of residency. It could be a totally new ballgame by then.
 
Psssh. Easy.

Step 1: Become a pediatrician.
Step 2: (edited)
Step 3: Profit.
 
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SoulinNeed said:
I'm always unsure what people mean when they say, "Healthcare is NOT a right." Do they mean that people who can't pay should just be left out to die, or do they mean that they actually should get care, but be forced to pay (I don't know how you can be forced to pay something you just don't have)?
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They mean that healthcare is not something the government has to provide as it never promises healthcare to its citizens. If in our Constitution it said citizens must be given access to healthcare as is it common in nations in Europe that we defeated in WW2. Then it there is a 'right' to healthcare.

Believing that healthcare isn't a right and believing that we need to extend and expand healthcare to cover more people and better the healthcare situation. Are even though seemingly contradictory, not in the least mutually exclusive beliefs.
 
serenade said:
If you want to gross more then 200k, then you might want to consider a fellowship. However I wouldn't say its impossible to make 200k+ if you're a good pediatrician. However pediatrics is one of those fields you go into because you love it and not because you seek any gains other then seeing children smile.
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Just to clarify, pediatrics is arguably the field in which you see the fewest happy children. You come at them with needles to poke and prod- not good. I know a lot of people who really love kids and who really don't want to go into peds precisely because they love them and hate that they start crying as soon as you walk into the room. If you can love them despite the fact that they hate you, you'll be ok.
 
You're saying you deserve $200k/yr for a 4.0 ugrad gpa and work you haven't done yet?? Get real.
 
ButImLETired said:
Just to clarify, pediatrics is arguably the field in which you see the fewest happy children. You come at them with needles to poke and prod- not good. I know a lot of people who really love kids and who really don't want to go into peds precisely because they love them and hate that they start crying as soon as you walk into the room. If you can love them despite the fact that they hate you, you'll be ok.
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This depends on the doctor I guess. I worked with a pediatrician all summer and her kids loved her. A lot of them would run up and hug her when she came in the room and very, very few (maybe 2 the whole time I was there) just started bawling when she came in.
 
poshdoctor said:
Now Im not going into Medicine for the money,

im really interested in General Clinical Pediatrics, but is it really worth it?? I mean I wanna gross around $200,000 (I have a 4.0 GPA....I've worked my butt off lol) and after all the debt of medical school and the work of a residency program I think that I deserve that almost all doctors deserve that salary.

But can I make that kind of Salary as a Pediatrician??

What do you think??
Click to expand...

Not to be obnoxious but your 4.0 (while impressive) means nothing in the context of how much you'll make down the line. The bottom line is that grossing $200k as a general pediatrician is very unlikely based on current compensation levels.

Saying the word 'deserve' on SDN provokes nothing but arguments and discourse. Saying all doctors 'deserve' X amount of money means nothing; its nothing but a pipe dream to make such a statement. Physician salary is determined by the hard economics of the situation, not what you think they 'deserve'.

If you want to be a general Pediatrician, you may have to bite the bullet on salary. Conversely if working with kids is the big thing for you, you could choose pediatrics as the subspecialty of a higher paying specialty; e.g. pediatric anesthesiology or pediatric otolaryngology. Both of those would put you have $200k and let you work with kids.
 
How many attending pediatricians are there in here?

To the OP, your goal of 200K gross is confusing to me. Gross of what? Before taxes, office help, rent, and malpractice -- no problem. You can gross 200 with 300 in expenses. I really think you mean gross before taxes. In that case, in terms of today's dollars, that would be difficult, but not impossible. As some have noted, general peds is not a procedural specialty. Thus, you can only make up for this on volume.

I would offer three possibilities to make that much money:

1) work in an undesirable location (e.g. Very rural), where they sweeten the pay to attract docs.

2) work like a dog, to see more patients and make more money -- I'm talking 70+ hours weekly

3) crank out patient encounters and deliver mediocre care. I hear docs brag that they see sixty kids a day, in 9-10 hours. No way you can do a good job seeing a kid every five minutes (including documentation time).

Ed.
 
poshdoctor said:
Now Im not going into Medicine for the money,

im really interested in General Clinical Pediatrics, but is it really worth it?? I mean I wanna gross around $200,000 (I have a 4.0 GPA....I've worked my butt off lol) and after all the debt of medical school and the work of a residency program I think that I deserve that almost all doctors deserve that salary.

But can I make that kind of Salary as a Pediatrician??

What do you think??
Click to expand...

even janitors work really hard. do they get paid a lot?
 
poshdoctor said:
Now Im not going into Medicine for the money,

im really interested in General Clinical Pediatrics, but is it really worth it?? I mean I wanna gross around $200,000 (I have a 4.0 GPA....I've worked my butt off lol) and after all the debt of medical school and the work of a residency program I think that I deserve that almost all doctors deserve that salary.

But can I make that kind of Salary as a Pediatrician??

What do you think??
Click to expand...
Dude you dont have to explain sh?t. All these SDN posters always talk about dont do it for the money blah blah blah. If you wanna make 200,000 then you wana make 200,000 (PERIOD!). Just cause you dont care about the money dosnt mean your gona be a good doc and vice versa. I want to make 300,000 one day and I know Im very passionate and I see the way the nurses and doctors that sit around the nursing station at my hosptial that "didnt do it for the money,it was their dream" treat patients and it will make you sick. Just work hard and the money will follow.😎 Oh and take some bussiness classes and invest like me.👍
 
thepoopologist said:
1. Cosmetic procedures for teenagers.
2. Real Estate
3. Congratulations, you're rich.
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I would add neurosurgeon to that list. Even if you cant enjoy the cash. I was at an interview for a tech job last year and the interviewer was on the phone in her office when she hung up and said to me "If I could just find a 2nd neurosurgeon who wants to make 600,000 a year then I could rest. 😕=my reaction. I was like umm I would take it if I had the training but maybe it was underpaid to them I guess. *shrugs* I mean even if the malpractice was 200,000 they would still bring in 400,000 or so (give or take)
 
Doctor246853 said:
I would add neurosurgeon to that list. Even if you cant enjoy the cash. I was at an interview for a tech job last year and the interviewer was on the phone in her office when she hung up and said to me "If I could just find a 2nd neurosurgeon who wants to make 600,000 a year then I could rest. 😕=my reaction. I was like umm I would take it if I had the training but maybe it was underpaid to them I guess. *shrugs* I mean even if the malpractice was 200,000 they would still bring in 400,000 or so (give or take)
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No, they're steps. Step 1 is to always do cosmetic procedures.

Neurosurgery is a ridiculously long residency. You can do a three year residency and be done with it, still follow my awesome three step plan, and do well for yourself.

I can't even begin to tell you how many family med, pediatric, and internal med docs who are "directors" of medical spas and dermatology clinics where I'm from.
 
thepoopologist said:
No, they're steps. Step 1 is to always do cosmetic procedures.

Neurosurgery is a ridiculously long residency. You can do a three year residency and be done with it, still follow my awesome three step plan, and do well for yourself.

I can't even begin to tell you how many family med, pediatric, and internal med docs who are "directors" of medical spas and dermatology clinics where I'm from.
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Ok but what if the neurosurgeon did a 1yr fellowship in poopology? And became a neuropoopologist?
 
I see posts like this, and I hear friends talk about similar topics and to be honest it is humorous. You will not get RICH as a doctor just from practicing medicine. The rich doctors are not the ones that make the money just from their individual practices, or from hospital work etc. Sure you will live a comfortable lifestyle almost regardless of which speciality you do, but to pick a specialty because it makes 200k compared to maybe 100k in another specialty is laughable.

The docs that make the money are the ones that LOOK for ways to make money in the field that they work in. Some of the richest docs my dad knows are the family docs who own multiple clinics, run pain management centers, nutrition centers, travel clinics, etc. One in particular grosses over 10 mil a year.
 
Doctor246853 said:
Dude you dont have to explain sh?t. All these SDN posters always talk about dont do it for the money blah blah blah. If you wanna make 200,000 then you wana make 200,000 (PERIOD!). Just cause you dont care about the money dosnt mean your gona be a good doc and vice versa. I want to make 300,000 one day and I know Im very passionate and I see the way the nurses and doctors that sit around the nursing station at my hosptial that "didnt do it for the money,it was their dream" treat patients and it will make you sick. Just work hard and the money will follow.😎 Oh and take some bussiness classes and invest like me.👍
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is saying that is reasons for becoming a physician should always be altruistic. However, the OP is saying that he should get x amount of money because of his 4.0, when he is not entitled to anything. He's also not even in medical school yet. It's way too early to worry about how much money he'll make in a specialty he doesn't even know he wants yet. He still needs to get accepted to medical school, pass the USMLE steps, and match. Long way to go.
 
A concierge pediatrician, who was AOA/chief from a top or local medical school and residency, can make from 350k to 1 million or more.

How is that?
 
Manicsleep said:
A concierge pediatrician, who was AOA/chief from a top or local medical school and residency, can make from 350k to 1 million or more.

How is that?
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Can we lie about where we went to medical school and our AOA status?
 
slowbutsteady said:
Anyone who does not believe health care is a "right" should not be going into medicine.

And yes, you should keep your right wing blather in the "right wing blather" thread where it belongs.
Click to expand...

lol "right"... yeah its a right. What else is a right? Should I have a right to a big house and 5 cars too? Rights don't entitle you to the services of other people. LOL... "right"... b!tch plz...
 
Suenya said:
I don't think healthcare is a right. My main interest is working with populations that are unlikely to be able to pay (or to pay much, medicaid and all that). If you don't want someone with that sort of interest going into medicine because they don't think it's a right, you're not particularly a good person, and/or not too bright.

People can make sacrifices to help others because it is a good thing to do without thinking that those other people have a right for sacrifices to be made.
Click to expand...

This is a better response than my immature one.
 
so much anger in this thread... is this what i should expect from med students? gahh lol
 
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